Earning Elite and Award Miles with American, Delta and United

This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page.

In light of news that American will change the way customers earn bonus miles and status in the AAdvantage program, TPG Contributor JT Genter takes a look at how the three major US carriers stack up.

With this latest announcement, the other shoe dropped: Spending requirements were added to the AAdvantage elite status program. In addition to the other requirements already in place, travelers will have to meet certain spending thresholds to qualify for American Airlines elite status in 2017. This move also follows in the footsteps of Delta and United — and on January 1, 2017, all three US-based legacy carriers will have spending requirements to qualify for elite status.

How do the programs compare now that American is moving to a revenue-based system?

Mileage Requirements

Miles Required for Status

American

Delta

United

Top-tier

100,000

Executive Platinum

125,000

Diamond

100,000

Premier 1K

Upper-tier

75,000

Platinum Pro

75,000

Platinum

75,000

Platinum

Mid-tier

50,000

Platinum

50,000

Gold

50,000

Gold

Lowest-tier

25,000

Gold

25,000

Silver

25,000

Silver

American calls them Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs), Delta calls them Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) and United calls them Premier Qualifying Miles (PQMs). No matter what they’re named, the main qualifiers for elite status are based on “butt in seat” miles — how many miles you fly on a plane.

Delta’s Medallion status requirements for 2016.

The approach used to be “a mile is a mile” regardless of the cabin when it came to this requirement, but the situation shifted a few years ago as airlines tried to entice travelers to book paid fares in premium cabins.

In the past year, it’s been a race to the top on which airline can make paid first/business-class flights earn qualifying miles the fastest. In November, American Airlines made a big jump as part of its changes to the 2016 AAdvantage program and United countered a month later. Delta has yet to match American and United in applying the same bonus multiples.

In order to calculate your qualifying miles, you need to apply the following multiples to your flight miles:

Qualifying Miles per Mile Flown

American

Delta

United

Full-Fare First/Business

3

2

3

Discount First/Business

2

1.5

2

Full-Fare Economy

1.5

1.5

1.5

Discount Economy

1

1

1

Winner: American Airlines and United Airlines (tie). Both have identical mileage requirements and premium cabin multiples.

Segment Requirements

Segments Required for Status

American

Delta

United

Top-tier

120

Executive Platinum

140

Diamond

120

Premier 1K

Upper-tier

90

Platinum Pro

100

Platinum

90

Platinum

Mid-tier

60

Platinum

60

Gold

60

Gold

Lowest-tier

30

Gold

30

Silver

30

Silver

As an alternative to the mileage requirements listed above, travelers can qualify for elite status based on the number of segments they fly. This is especially nice for those who fly a lot, but only for short distances.

United rewards full-fare economy, business and first-class paid fares with 1.5 Premier Qualifying Segments (PQSes) per flight segment flown. However, this segment bonus incentive hasn’t been adopted by American or Delta.

Qualifying Segments per Flight

American

Delta

United

Full-Fare First/Business

1

1

1.5

Discount First/Business

1

1

1.5

Full-Fare Economy

1

1

1.5

Discount Economy

1

1

1

Winner: United Airlines. While American and United require the same number of segments, United will let you earn status faster for any full-fare or business/first-class travel.

Spending Requirements

Spending Required for Status

American*

Delta

United

Top-tier

$12,000

Executive Platinum

$15,000

Diamond

$12,000

Premier 1K

Upper-tier

$9,000

Platinum Pro

$9,000

Platinum

$9,000

Platinum

Mid-tier

$6,000

Platinum

$6,000

Gold

$6,000

Gold

Lowest-tier

$3,000

Gold

$3,000

Silver

$3,000

Silver

*Effective for earning elite status after January 1, 2017

Now the newest — and most dreaded for many frequent flyers — qualification requirement: spending. Delta was the first to announce that flyers would need to spend a certain amount to qualify for elite status. United quickly matched this requirement, making the change effective on the same date as Delta: January 1, 2014.

American Airlines is adding a spending requirement for elite status earned after January 1, 2017.

Up until yesterday’s announcement, American Airlines was the sole holdout to this requirement — a haven for those of us who fly discount international economy fares. Effective January 1, 2017, this haven will be no more.

Worst of all, American Airlines hasn’t announced any waivers to its new spending requirements. But, we hope that AA will add a credit card spending waiver similar to Delta and United — the carrier said it’s considering this option but currently has no announcement to make.

Spending Wavier Available

American

Delta

United

Credit Card
Spending

Foreign
Residence

Credit Card
Spending

Foreign
Residence

Credit Card
Spending

Foreign
Residence

Top-tier

**

N/A

$25,000

Yes

N/A

Yes

Upper-tier

**

N/A

$25,000

Yes

$25,000

Yes

Mid-tier

**

N/A

$25,000

Yes

$25,000

Yes

Lowest-tier

**

N/A

$25,000

Yes

$25,000

Yes

**Credit card spending waiver under consideration by American Airlines at this time.

Winner: Depends on your situation. Both American and United have the lowest spending requirements for top-tier status, but the spending requirements for elite status are identical across all three airlines for the other tiers. While United allows spending waivers for some elite tiers, only Delta allows you to waive the spending requirements for top-tier status via credit card spending. If you’re not a US resident, Delta and United clearly beat out American, as you get a waiver of the spending requirements.

Award Mileage Earning

Award Mileage Earning Rates

American

Delta

United

Top-tier

11x

Executive Platinum

11x

Diamond

11x

Premier 1K

Upper-tier

9x

Platinum Pro

9x

Platinum

9x

Platinum

Mid-tier

8x

Platinum

8x

Gold

8x

Gold

Lowest-tier

7x

Gold

7x

Silver

7x

Silver

No status

5x

Member

5x

Member

5x

Member

For flights departing on or after August 1, American Airlines flyers will earn award miles based on the airfare paid, rather than miles flown. American chose to adopt the exact same earning multiples for general and elite members that Delta and United already have in place.

United’s revenue-based mileage program kicked in March 1, 2015. American will match this earnings structure on August 1.

Which airline mileage program is going to be best for you? Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

As you can see in the above charts, there will be remarkable similarities in the elite and award mileage earning programs for American, Delta and United. If you’re deciding on where to send your loyalty in 2017 — and won’t have elite status earned in 2016 — there aren’t major benefits to choosing one mileage program over the other. While partner and redemptions benefits do vary some, you’re otherwise free to pick an airline based on schedule, onboard product and operational performance.

That said, there are some situations where a certain program wins out:

Travelers who fly many short-distance flights in business/first class or full-fare economy: United is the only program that offers a 1.5 multiple, meaning you have to fly “just” 80 segments in business/first class or full-fare economy to reach top-tier status — assuming you spend at least $12,000 on these flights.

Travelers who pay for long-haul business/first class: American or United would be best, as both programs award a higher multiple of qualifying miles for business/first class.

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Facebook

Advertiser Disclosure

The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Please view our advertising policy page for more information.

Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.